Dubai!

Well, that was a record setting day yesterday! We needed to be in the Princess Theatre at 7:15 am in order to meet our Tour Group for the day, the illustrious (or notorious!) Purple 3 Gang. Thankfully, Purple 3 was devoid of any mobility-challenged passengers which made this tour move along at the speed that only an age-challenged group could muster! When that Tour was complete, around 2:15 pm, we went back on board for a grand total of 45 minutes until we met Shah, our Tours-by-Locals guide at 3:00 pm. Back out we went, and we didn’t get back aboard for the night until after 9:00 pm. But what an adventure!

                   I will warn you in advance that this is going to be an extended post, and the rights to turn it into a mini-series are being negotiated as I write this.

Forewarned is forearmed!  😊

Ok, so it’s Geo-Political Class today!

                   What in the name of all that’s oily and sandy is an ‘emirate’?

                   Why would it be united and why would the Arab aspect of it be of any significance?

                   These and many more questions that you never needed to know the answers to, or even cared that you did, or didn’t know, will be revealed in short order.

                   First, a word from our sponsor, we’ll be right back after this:

                   “Folks, do you suffer from a lack of excitement in your life?”

                   “Do you long for the days of yore when daredevil acts of stupidity made your life worth living?”

                   “Well, fret no more! We here at P&D Travel Experiences have the abilities to transform your life into that wished for sensation that will turn your life upside down….. Literally!”

                   “Here on the windswept shores of the Persian Gulf, we can arrange for you to have the ‘Bungee Jump of a Lifetime’! Hurled off of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, you will plummet more than two thousand vertical feet before our patented (but untested} “Life-Altering Umbilical Ripcord” hopefully brings you to a grinding halt just inches above the newly paved streets of the most modern and ostentatious city in the Middle East and maybe the entire world…..  Dubai!”

                   Run, don’t walk to your nearest phone, and call this number:

                             1-800-What-the-…….

Operators will be standing by as soon as they stop laughing at you!

                   Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

(Hey! Someone’s got to pay for this trip!)

Let’s talk about those emirates.

What are they and why do they exist?

Emirates are geopolitical regions ruled over by an emir, a title of importance in the Muslim world. There aren’t many of these types of entities left in the world anymore. Most have been absorbed by larger countries and have gone the way of the camel caravan. But there are just a few left, both Kuwait and Qatar are emirates, and there is a tiny spot at the bottom of Afghanistan that is claiming this title but is unrecognized. Our biggie for today is the U.A.E. or the United Arab Emirates. This collection of individual emirates (states) has been somewhat united since 1971. I say somewhat because they all still can’t get along all the time! This would be akin to Illinois fighting with Ohio and Indiana not having the power (or interest) to intervene. Such is the way when the rulers of these emirates are the heads of the families that have been in power for centuries!

There are seven different emirates, and I could list them all, but you really don’t care and would never remember all their names anyway, so let’s just concentrate on the most famous one, that of Dubai.

Dubai is both the name of the Emirate and name of the capital city. It is the most populous city and state of the U.A.E. but not the largest. That honor belongs to the one other emirate that you may recognize, Abu Dhabi, whose capital is also named Abu Dhabi. I guess they like to keep things simple over there!

Dubai has been around for a long time, like centuries, but the modern day descendent had its start as a lowly fishing village back in the 18^th century. (1700’s) If you harken back to your Bible History lessons and World History classes, you will remember that human occupation of this area of the world has been well documented for millennia. Trading links between Mesopotamia (remember that one?) and the Indus Valley ran through this area. Even the pearl merchants of Venice knew about Dubai in the 1700’s because of its renowned pearling industry. Apparently, this region of the Persian Gulf was once a good nursery for oysters. Even the good ol’ Sumerians liked it here because of the metals that could be found and worked, namely copper and bronze. Remember, the size of the Middle East is relatively small. The distance between Jerusalem and Dubai is similar to a drive from NYC to Miami, so these old wanderers and civilizations intertwined with frightening regularity.

In the early 1800’s, Dubai was still that little fishing port with only about a thousand inhabitants. It was off the main drag, with only two paths leading out of town. One went down to the creek and the other one went the other way and eventually hooked up with a few caravan routes. The families of the influential folks were fighting from time to time (as was their custom) when the big guy of the day, Mr. Maktoum, beat up his neighbors and became the ruler of the area. The Maktoum Dynasty is still the Ruling Family of Dubai, so I guess this guy had, and has, some power!

          Enter the Brits (It’s always the Brits!) in the mid 1800’s who were trying to secure trade routes and the only way to do this was to try and get all these warring families to settle down and cooperate. With the help of the British, the united (not United) families were able to defeat a rival family (that eventually became part of the whole) and Britain then agreed to help with the defense of Dubai and its buddies in return for the usual trade concessions and exclusivities.

          Ok, now we’re gaining some momentum! In 1901, Maktoum al Basher Maktoum (that’s Sheik Maktoum to you!) a descendent of our original Mr. Maktoum, decided to make Dubai a free port! You all remember from the Singapore post what happens when a port gets an identity as free?

 Yahoo! Free Trade! Lets’ all go to Dubai!

Evidence of the success of this policy can be found in the travels of just one example of the many ships that plied these seas. A steamer from the Bombay and Persia Steamship Company used to make only five visits per year in 1901. This escalated to twenty-five visits a year by 1906 and made Dubai the port of choice amongst the emirates. But all was not great forever in Dubby-Land. A storm crippled their pearl fleet and the Great Depression, along with the emergence of cultured pearls further hindered that industry.

“So Don, when do we get to all the oil and that kind of stuff?”

Funny you should ask that. Dubai never had a lot of oil. It was extremely jealous of its unfriendly (and relative on Mom’s side) neighbor, Abu Dhabi, who had gazillions of barrels within its borders. Dubai searched in vain for years, finally coming up with relatively small deposit of crude just offshore. That did not happen until 1966!

Up until then, the forethinking Sheik Rashid Maktoum (same family!) tried his best to modernize and keep Dubai in the forefront of the region’s, if not the world’s commerce. After the pearls went south, he used his influence to secure some loans for the building of modern utilities, phones, water, and electricity all came to Dubai. With these in place, buildings followed, foreign interests became “interested”, a modern airport was constructed and slowly but surely, the world came to Dubai.

Let’s fast-forward a few years and jump to ‘present’ day or so. Things really started jumping in the 90’s and 2000’s. Business was good, lots of international monies flowed in and out of Dubai and many top corporations made their “vacation” homes here. As I said, business was good. The Sheik redoubled his efforts to make Dubai the envy of the region and a go-to modern city both for business and pleasure. They restructured their coastline, making artificial islands in the shapes of palm trees and a map of the world made up of many, islands. It is quite the sight as you will see!

          However, this expansion did not come without some negative press. It seems that several of the companies that were contracted to build everything confiscated the passports of their imported (Indonesian) workers so that they could not leave the country, even if they did not like the working conditions.

          Think indentured servitude.

          Oh, and the Sheik owns 97% of the interests in the buildings and companies. Speaking of owning property here, you must be a Dubai national in order to own property anywhere, but there are a few caveats in favor of expatriates. Dubai has set aside some areas called freehold sections that foreigners are allowed to buy into with leases up to 99 years, so I guess you sort of own property but not forever? Everyone else must rent their places. But, if you are from Dubai and you get married, the Sheik will give you enough money to buy your first house. But only to the guy.

          Women’s rights have come a long way here, but still have a long way to go. Just a small example of this is in their transit system. Back in the day it was difficult for a lady to travel unaccompanied, that is, without her husband or escort. Today there are “women only” cars on the trams and there is a fleet of pink taxis that are reserved for women traveling alone….. and they are driven by women!  Step by step…..

          This is what comes of a culture deeply seated in Islamic traditions, and Dubai is not as strict as some of the other countries in this region. We will be visiting Muscat in Oman in a few days so we will be able to gauge the difference between a more liberal leaning country and a stricter one. Report to follow!

          Let’s move on to one of the primary reasons that people flock to this city.

          The architecture! (as modern as that may be!)

One of the first buildings to capture the eye of the world is that of the Burj Al Arab Hotel. This is the one that looks like a sail from a sailboat. But not just any sailboat, they wanted to use the sail of the most majestic and iconic sailboats ever to ply the waters of the world. Those are the J-Class boats used in the America’s Cup races during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The design emulates the spinnakers, the sail that billows out in front of the boat on a downwind leg. I can’t help it; I’m going to show you one here as these boats are my absolute favorites of all time!

Just so you can see the resemblance!  😊

This hotel is an engineering marvel, not only for its design, but also for its construction. Back in the hey-day of Middle East oil and new-found global wealth someone decided that they wanted to build a 1000-foot-high hotel on the shores of a windy sea. But that’s not hard enough! Let’s pour some sand in the water and make an artificial island! You know, like down the shore at the beach where everything is about as unstable as it gets! The result is a building put together by an international collaboration of the best architects, engineers, and building designers ever assembled.

Before we get to the next one, guess what the word burj means? Give up?

          Tower!

Burj sounds so much more, I don’t know….. something!

Having the coolest hotel design in the world was not enough for our Sheik guy. Nope, let’s build the tallest building in the world! Nope, still not good enough. Let’s blow away all the rest of the other “loser” towers and really make it something that will last as the tallest for a really long time!

So, we’re gonna make it 2717’ high!

 Almost 700’ higher than the next tallest (at the time), the Shanghai Tower in China.

Hah! We’ll show ‘em!

Hence, the Burj Khalifa. The very same building that was highlighted by our sponsors in the beginning of this post!

          Just as a frame of reference for us East Coasters, the Empire State Building stands at 1200’ tall. So that makes the Burj Khalifa more than twice as high! But not as famous! Until someone remakes “An Affair to Remember” (Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr) or “Sleepless in Seattle” ( Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks) with the Burj Khalifa as the meeting point it doesn’t stand a chance! And with the way “Public Displays of Affection” and romance are frowned upon over here it’s not gonna happen!

           Harold and Sherry, (Sherry was here back in 2006) were our travel companions all day, including Purple 3. They were also with us with Shah. As I said, it was a long day but what the heck! We had the entire next day to recover! Having a local guide in this part of the world was probably the best thing that we could have done. With customs and traditions so foreign to us Westerners, Shah was able to bridge any differences, give us insights, and ensure that our visit here was as memorable as it could be!

                             We gleaned many a tasty tid-bit of information from both our morning guide and Shah. One theme that came bursting through was that both of these guys, one from Jordan, the other from India, could not have been prouder or more supportive of a country that has yet to “adopt” them, even though they have both been here for an average of about ten years. The locals, or Emiratis, as they are called, only make up about 25% of the population, leaving the rest to everyone else. But in speaking about their home-away-from-home, they were quick to extol its virtues and praise the ruler, the Emir, the Sheik, the current Mr. Maktoum, Rashid.

                             And we could see why.

                             Without going into a dissertation on the benefits of, or negatives to, the differences between a democracy and dictatorship, we will just highlight some of the facts about living here.

                             Zero percent unemployment. If you don’t have a job, thank you, go home!

                             Zero percent violent crime. If you’re bad, you go before the Shia Court, and if you are not an Emeriti, thank you, go home. If you are an Emeriti, you may just disappear. The result is the same, no murders, no rape, no muggings, no break-ins, no nothing.

                             Zero percent (almost!) traffic issues. Not that there isn’t traffic, its just that they don’t tolerate “Road Rage”, running traffic lights, blocking intersections, speeding, or anything! Hence everyone is “courteous” whether they are that by nature or not.

                             There are many other examples of social programs and educational programs that they both recited. A lot of these plans were once only available to the Locals, but little by little, things are changing for the rest of the people who live here and most of them are not citizens! Visas are the norm, but these “visitors” love being here! I guess that when it’s all said and done, we may have the perfect example of Benevolent Dictator that I’ve ever seen, with the most positive attributes of both of those terms being applied to the Emir.

                             But we’re here for only a day and a half, so our ability to garner all the facts is limited. I will state that the place is cleaner than Singapore which is saying something! The urban planning is mind-boggling, and the architecture reminds me of the first time that Dorothy and her companions come out of the Woods and gaze across the fields of poppies at Oz. That is not an exaggeration! There is a haze over, and about the city stirred up by the winds of the area lifting teeny-tiny, microscopic bits of sand that give the whole city a surreal look. It definitely looks Middle East and if you’ve ever seen any of David Roberts engravings and illustration’s from the 1850’s you will know what I mean. Hopefully some of the photos will demonstrate this.

                   Our primary destination in the morning was the Burj Khalifa, that crazy tall building. We went to the 124^th level which is way up there! We were lucky that on this particular day, those pesky particulates that I referred to were at a minimum, so it gave us a relatively rare opportunity to have a really good viewing experience from our vantage point. Our guide told us that these days are few and far between, like maybe a handful a year. We’ll take it!

                   Our other stops in the morning included some “Drive-By’s” of mosques and impressive buildings for photo ops.

We also visited two incredible malls. The Mall of the Emirates and the Mall of Dubai are something that need to be experienced. Even if you are not into malls and shopping, these monolithic examples of retail houses of worship were something to behold.

                   And they were crowded.

                   And it was the morning of weekday.

                   We came to realize that with the sweltering weather here, any type of outdoor leisure activity is not going to happen. So, indoor, air-conditioned, trips to these multi-multi-leveled sprawling destinations is a nice respite from what ails you.

                   Some frames of reference for you:

                   Dubai Mall was once the largest in the world. It has since been surpassed by many malls, primarily in China and Southeast Asia. The huge Mall of America in Minnesota is about 75% of the size of it and for local contrast, Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, which was once one of the largest in the world when it was constructed back in ’69, is seven times smaller! We won’t even try to slide Rockaway Mall into the equation.  But size isn’t everything it’s the total mount and quality of the chocolate shops that are tenants that make the difference! In the Dubai Mall, right smack dab in the center atrium where two of the best chocolatiers around! See’s Candies (1921) out of California (my domestic favorite) and Neuhaus (1857) out of Belgium (the finest in the world according to me) were directly across from each other! Nirvana!

                   Our tour with Shah was nothing short of incredible. He brought us to little spots that were hidden but gave us the best views of some of the local sights and sites.

He was a veritable fountain of information as he drove us around. The day was still on the magnificent side, but the cool of the evening could not come soon enough. It arrived at the perfect time when we travelled to Old Dubai, several miles outside the metropolistic (Little Miss Spell-Check is having a baby ‘cuz I made that word up!) part of town. Here is where all the worker-bees live and congregate.

Read, “real people.”

Our destinations were someplace to eat and some local souks, or markets. You haven’t experienced shopping until you’ve visited a third world type market. It is a sensory overload experience! And if you’re not a bargainer, don’t even try to purchase anything!

We first had dinner at an outdoor place which was on the side of that old creek that I mentioned back in the beginning. But the old, small creek has been “enhanced” over the centuries and is now part of a very navigable arm of the Persian Gulf. Dinner was interesting, lots of pointing to pictures in the menu, and getting explanations of everything from Shah, who remained with us at dinner as our guest. Wraps were the order of the day and one must be careful when visiting these parts of the world because things are not always what they seem, or look like. Ask Paula about the “pickle” that she popped into her mouth only to find out that it was “pepper” way hotter than a jalapeno, and she bit into, and chomped on it before she realized (too late! ) what it wasn’t! What it was, was a great source of entertainment for the rest of us!

          When that fiasco was over, we piled into one of the water taxis that constantly cross this creek. These are old wooden boats from the middle of the twentieth century, that still ferry folks back and forth. We were headed to the souks, one spices and textiles, the other gold. 

          This might have been the highlight of the day! Not that the rest of the day was disappointing, quite the contrary, but as I alluded to in the previous post about being a “tourist” or a traveler, this experience thrust us into the belly of the beast and emerge as Travelers! There is nothing that I can compare this to so a few photos will have to do, and I recommend that when and if you get to a country that has deep ethnic market traditions, that you embrace these experiences and just visit them, at least once!